Dhaka , Bangladesh -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- At least 13 people were killed and 20 wounded when lightning struck a makeshift mosque in a remote village in northeast Bangladesh on Friday , police said .

The lightning strike occurred as people gathered for a special evening prayer known as taraweeh that is conducted during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan .

`` Multiple lightning strikes occurred during a storm when nearly 35 people gathered at a house in the village of Saraswati where they turned a tin roof shed into a makeshift mosque for the month of Ramadan as a regular mosque was far away , '' Dharmapasha police chief Bayes Alam told CNN .

The village Saraswati is some 200 kilometers -LRB- 124 miles -RRB- from the capital of Dhaka .

Heavy rains in recent weeks have swollen the Saraswati River , making access to the village difficult .

`` As boats were the only mode of transport to go out of the village , it took several hours to take the critically wounded people to the hospital , '' said Akm Mezanul Haque , the officer-in-charge of the Modhyanagar police station , who joined the rescue operation .

Of the 13 killed by the lightning strike , Mohammad Shahabuddin , the imam , and two others died at the mosque , Alam said . Ten others were declared dead at a Dharmapasha area hospital , he said .

Area residents and police took the wounded , many in critical condition , to the area hospital .

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A lightning strike occurred as people gathered for evening prayers , police said

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Lightning struck a tin roof shed that was doubling as a mosque , police said

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The strike occurred in Saraswati , some 200 kilometers from the capital of Dhaka .